Would you scratch?

Swim it!!! Strategy -- Fly: To borrow from pwb, "Loaf, loaf loaf, and LOAF HARD". Back: Swim it. ***: Swim it. Free: swim, build, sprint, sprint. The great thing about the 400 IM is you don't have to swim any of it fast, except maybe the last 50. Otherwise it's just like what you do in workouts every day, with a little less rest between the 100s. Swim it! You will love this event! Love the strategy... and as far as loving it goes, can I hold you to that? :) If you like the event or want to swim it in the future, give it a whirl. If you think scratching makes you mentally week, swim it to erase that feeling. A wise swimmer once told me, if you have one really good swim a meet, you've achieved something and it was worth it. So sometimes I narrow my focus rather than broaden it. To each his own! Leslie, you've made some great points. The 400 IM is an event that theoretically I SHOULD like. I do want to swim it, but was just hoping that I'd be able to relax it the first time. Being in a slower heat would have enabled me to do that. Really, I made the mistake in seeding myself with anything other than a NT. I will know better for next time. That being said, I agree with your philosophy on scratching. I scratched a couple of events in a meet that I did in the fall, which was the first time I had ever scratched. It was for the right reasons, and it felt good. The 400IM is mixed and there are only two women faster than you- and they are a lot younger! Elaine, one of the women seeded right above five minutes is a friend of mine from my team. She is a phenomenal swimmer. There is no humilation in swimming the 400 IM...many people would not even attempt it (like me). This will be my first 1000, and I obviously miscalculated my seed time probably ending up in the fastest heat (YIKES), so I'll be getting lapped too (hehehe). Then following that I am swimming the 200 Fly with 2 other girls who are WAY faster than me. So you have no worries. Just remember, we are there to have fun and challenge ourselves! Marianne, for one thing -- you are swimming the 200 fly. I know you're a butterflyer, but I still would think the 200 fly would be much harder than the 400 IM. And you will do great in the 1000! I think you're actually going to be pretty close to your seed time, and you're actually likely to beat it. And as far as your seed time for the 500 goes -- you'll beat that by quite a bit. I think you are going to surprise yourself! My guess is that the 400IM is preseeded since the entry doesn't say anything about positive check-in being required. That means that you will be in the first (slower) heat. If I were you I'd WANT to be in the faster heat. The slow folks won't give you a race. And I'm betting your seed time is actually 20-30 secs off. If you want, I'll race you in it in the fall so long as lefty is working correctly! Heidi, I'm not sure if it's pre-seeded or deck seeded. I asked Tracy, and she said that she thinks it's deck seeded just like the 1000. I actually didn't see any reference to any events being deck seeded, but I'm pretty sure they've always deck seeded the distance freestyles at St. Pat's. As far as my estimated seed time goes, I was figuring 1:30 for fly and back, 1:40 for ***, and 1:20 for free. Remember, you are a lot stronger in stroke than I am; you would kick my butt! If I go under my seed estimate, I will be thrilled. See you tomorrow! J Look at me last year at Clemson. I had to swim about every event right next to Lance Asti (a sub :20 50 freestyler). Its okay to get your *** handed to ya once in awhile. Ummm... you were beaten by one person. I routinely get my *** handed to me by many people. :-) But I do remember Lance Asti's races at Clemson being very fun to watch! I'd say go ahead and swim it no matter what; it's your last event of the day. When you're done reward yourself with a margarita and a big juicy cheeseburger!!!!!!! I would definitely do it for that!! MMMMM.... Margaritas..... Now THERE'S motivation!!! :D

Swim it!!! Strategy -- Fly: To borrow from pwb, "Loaf, loaf loaf, and LOAF HARD". Back: Swim it. ***: Swim it. Free: swim, build, sprint, sprint. The great thing about the 400 IM is you don't have to swim any of it fast, except maybe the last 50. Otherwise it's just like what you do in workouts every day, with a little less rest between the 100s. Swim it! You will love this event! Love the strategy... and as far as loving it goes, can I hold you to that? :) If you like the event or want to swim it in the future, give it a whirl. If you think scratching makes you mentally week, swim it to erase that feeling. A wise swimmer once told me, if you have one really good swim a meet, you've achieved something and it was worth it. So sometimes I narrow my focus rather than broaden it. To each his own! Leslie, you've made some great points. The 400 IM is an event that theoretically I SHOULD like. I do want to swim it, but was just hoping that I'd be able to relax it the first time. Being in a slower heat would have enabled me to do that. Really, I made the mistake in seeding myself with anything other than a NT. I will know better for next time. That being said, I agree with your philosophy on scratching. I scratched a couple of events in a meet that I did in the fall, which was the first time I had ever scratched. It was for the right reasons, and it felt good. The 400IM is mixed and there are only two women faster than you- and they are a lot younger! Elaine, one of the women seeded right above five minutes is a friend of mine from my team. She is a phenomenal swimmer. There is no humilation in swimming the 400 IM...many people would not even attempt it (like me). This will be my first 1000, and I obviously miscalculated my seed time probably ending up in the fastest heat (YIKES), so I'll be getting lapped too (hehehe). Then following that I am swimming the 200 Fly with 2 other girls who are WAY faster than me. So you have no worries. Just remember, we are there to have fun and challenge ourselves! Marianne, for one thing -- you are swimming the 200 fly. I know you're a butterflyer, but I still would think the 200 fly would be much harder than the 400 IM. And you will do great in the 1000! I think you're actually going to be pretty close to your seed time, and you're actually likely to beat it. And as far as your seed time for the 500 goes -- you'll beat that by quite a bit. I think you are going to surprise yourself! My guess is that the 400IM is preseeded since the entry doesn't say anything about positive check-in being required. That means that you will be in the first (slower) heat. If I were you I'd WANT to be in the faster heat. The slow folks won't give you a race. And I'm betting your seed time is actually 20-30 secs off. If you want, I'll race you in it in the fall so long as lefty is working correctly! Heidi, I'm not sure if it's pre-seeded or deck seeded. I asked Tracy, and she said that she thinks it's deck seeded just like the 1000. I actually didn't see any reference to any events being deck seeded, but I'm pretty sure they've always deck seeded the distance freestyles at St. Pat's. As far as my estimated seed time goes, I was figuring 1:30 for fly and back, 1:40 for ***, and 1:20 for free. Remember, you are a lot stronger in stroke than I am; you would kick my butt! If I go under my seed estimate, I will be thrilled. See you tomorrow! J Look at me last year at Clemson. I had to swim about every event right next to Lance Asti (a sub :20 50 freestyler). Its okay to get your *** handed to ya once in awhile. Ummm... you were beaten by one person. I routinely get my *** handed to me by many people. :-) But I do remember Lance Asti's races at Clemson being very fun to watch! I'd say go ahead and swim it no matter what; it's your last event of the day. When you're done reward yourself with a margarita and a big juicy cheeseburger!!!!!!! I would definitely do it for that!! MMMMM.... Margaritas..... Now THERE'S motivation!!! :D